1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is broadly concerned with an improved bladder-type therapy member designed for use in the treatment of sprains, muscle aches, dislocations, etc. where application of heat or reduced temperatures is advantageous. More particularly, the invention pertains to such therapy members including an internal bladder surrounded by a quantity of flexible, thermally conductive gel; the gel is normally encased within a stretchable fabric sheath, permitting the therapy member to be placed in direct conforming relationship with the body part of a patient requiring therapy.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The treatment of many injuries such as sprains, contusions or dislocations where immediate swelling is common typically involves application of cold ice compresses or other materials to slow the flow of blood to the injured site, thus reducing swelling. After the initial trauma and swelling due to the injury have subsided, it is often advisable to apply heat to the injured area to promote healing. Here again, a number of expedients have been used in the past for this purpose, including hot towels or heating pads.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,671,267 describes a greatly improved gel-based therapy member which can be employed to good effect in the treatment of various traumatic injuries. The therapy members disclosed in the '267 patent make use of a humectant-based gel encased within flexible stretch-type fabric. In use, the therapy members are either cooled in a refrigerator or freezer, or heated by microwave or other heating means. While devices described in this patent represent a significant breakthrough in the art, they do not provide any means for maintaining an initial temperature over long periods. That is to say, while these therapy members may be initially heated or cooled prior to application, once in place the temperature thereof inevitably moves towards ambient.
It has also been known in the past to provide hot/cold blankets for the treatment of post-surgical and traumatic conditions. Generally speaking, such blankets include an internal bladder for receipt of hot or cold fluid, with a plastic skin-contacting sheet of limited flexibility adjacent one face of the bladder, and a sheet of foam adjacent the opposite bladder face. Blankets of this type are commercialized by InCare Medical Products of Libertyville, Ill. under the designation "Hot/Ice System Blanket", and are designed for use with automated equipment for precise temperature maintenance.
These bladder type devices are deficient in that their relatively rigid construction prevents wrapping of the devices around a leg or arm, for example. Thus, these blankets are most useful only for treatment of the trunk regions of recumbent patients.